✍️ Tandem Services Coaching and Editing: Discover the Genius of Story Craft
Empowering you to write the stories of your heart and increasing your impact with a book. Helpful information for your writing career each month In this issue:
Craft: The Genius Diagram of Your BookHave you seen one of these diagrams before? Sometimes they’re called a Venn Diagram. Sometimes they are called a Genius Model. I find them insightful when we are talking about crafting books. One of the things it illustrates is that you have to juggle three big topics to get a book that works well. It’s hard for us to focus on more than one or two things at a time. And most craft books also focus on one or two items. So you need to read a number of craft books to make sure you are covering all the aspects you need to.Let’s look at the pieces individually. CharactersArguably, these are the most important parts of your book. A reader will follow a character they love through a mediocre plot, but they won’t follow a character they can’t stand, no matter how interesting the plot. Compelling characters have the ability to captivate readers and cause them to be emotionally invested in the story. Exploring your protagonist’s desires, flaws, and growth arcs will create well-rounded characters that your readers can’t help but follow through the pages. When you are reading a story, your brain feels like it’s in the story. It casts itself as the protagonist. How many times when you’ve watched a movie or read a book have you been moved to tears or laughed? A good story pulls you into it emotionally. And we have all those emotions because our brain has put us in that story. For my nonfiction writers, who is the hero of your book? A bit of a trick question. It’s not the writer. The writer is the guide. The writer has been through it already and come out the other side. They are now going to show you, the reader, the hero, how to navigate the path successfully. The hero is the reader. They need to see themselves on the page. So as you are thinking about that, you might ask yourself, what kind of person might best exemplify my clients, speak to their pain points and issues? StoryStory is the journey we need to force our characters to go on so they can achieve the growth they desire. As humans, we are reluctant to change without being forced to. So the plot serves as a device for growth for your characters. To talk about what’s happening in the story, the action, or the plot, we’re going to go back to the character. And the reason is that they have to be created in tandem. You need a plot that best highlights all of the difficulties this particular character needs to get the change they want. Nonfiction folks, what are some key ideas you want to cover? What read pain points do you need to address? What kind of transformation journey are you taking your reader on? StructureWhen you have your characters and your story nailed down, you need to convey it to your readers in a way that keeps them turning pages. This means structuring your scenes and chapters in a way that keeps them reading so they won’t want to put your book down. And you need to craft the overall structure of the book so that the tension rises and falls and you come to a satisfying conclusion so they’ll buy your next book. When you hit all three of these major categories, you’ve gone a long way toward making a book your readers can’t put down. We talk about all of these and more in the Novel Blueprint Signature System. Go here for more information. https://www.tandemservicesink.com/novel-blueprint-signature-course-page/ Where you can find meTandem Services has a YouTube page! Check it out at YouTube.com/@TandemServices Want personalized writing advice? Share a writing, editing, or publishing hurdle you have faced or a question you have and I will email you an autographed copy of Eat the Elephant: How to Write (and Finish!) Your Book One Bite at a Time and send you a personalized five-minute video. Click here to find out more. This month’s resource recommendationsScrivener has a blog! For those of you who use Scrivener as a writing tool/digital binder (I’m a big fan), did you know they have a blog? It covers how to use Scrivener in some ways you might not have thought of (Use Scrivener’s Outliner as a To-Do List for Your Writing Projects) and some practical advice for using their tool (7 Ways to View Word Counts in Scrivener Projects) and even some inspirational interviews with authors (Isabella Valeri). You can find their blog here. Kudos!Kurt Mahler, member of our Circle group, is releasing his newest book this month: Search for the Shadow Cat. He also was on the Avid Reader podcast with author Tricia Goyer. Check it out! If you’re one of my clients who has won an award, finaled in a contest, achieved bestseller status, has a new release, or hit some sales goals, let me know. I’d love to celebrate your wins with you! Writing quoteNever be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.— Mae Jemison Pressing on! Jennifer PS—You should assume any link in this Update is an affiliate link. It costs you nothing more but gives me a few pennies. 🙂 |
